The Hollywood Reporter recently published an interview with Ellen Pompeo, the star of the iconic medical series Grey’s Anatomy. The series, created by Shonda Rhimes, is a television phenomenon. It’s currently airing its 14th season and continues to dominate ratings. Unlike most network TV shows, there’s no end in sight, and Pompeo is no doubt one of its key factors of success.
It’s interesting to note that while everyone was celebrating Grey’s “instant hit” status back in 2005, Pompeo herself was crushed. She was aiming to be a movie star, and a network TV show would completely throw her off track. But that’s part of what makes her story so fascinating: she didn’t accomplish her dream of being a film legend, but she did make history regardless by becoming the highest paid actress in dramatic television in 2017. Her new contract promises her more than $20 million a year, including $575,000 per episode for the next two seasons, producing fees and backend equity points on both Grey’s and it’s new spin off Station 19, as well as production commitments for her production company Calamity Jane.
Most TV casts negotiates as a cast, so there’s typically not a huge gap between men and women. However, there’s not only less main cast roles– like how Big Bang Theory stars 4 men but only 1 woman–, the wage gap does still exist. Pompeo did not hold back in her interview, stating that she’s hoping to empower her fellow actresses to stand up for what they deserve, and talked about several of her obstacles, both with the show and Hollywood itself.
When it came to her salary with Grey’s, she stated that despite being the titular character, the network used to argue that she was not essential to the cast. They would rebut that the show actually revolved around her on-screen romantic counterpart, Patrick Dempsey. When she asked for a (relatively) measly $5000 more than Dempsey, based on the fact that it’s Grey’s Anatomy and not Shepherd’s Anatomy, the network refused.
That statement was clearly insulting, and left Pompeo in a dilemma. Why would she stay around on a show that clearly didn’t respect her? But on the other hand, why should she walk away from a great role because of a guy? If she were to walk away, the storyline would most likely drive towards centering around Dempsey’s character, and it would turn from her show to his. And she was not about to “let a guy drive [her] out of [her] own house.”
When Dempsey chose to leave, the network also had no faith in Pompeo’s ability to carry the show on her own and immediately cast a new romantic interest. But Pompeo got the last laugh as it turns out, she is a force to be reckoned with; the ratings have spiked without Dempsey’s presence and her new romantic interest was soon written off. After fourteen seasons of consistently portraying a character to an excellent standard, she realized her worth. “When your face and your voice have been part of something that’s generated $3 billion for one of the biggest corporations in the world, you start to feel like, ‘OK, maybe I do deserve a piece of this.’ “
What truly sets Pompeo apart in this interview though, is how candid she is. Hollywood is full of people that always spouts the same lines of “Never stop following your dreams.” And while inspiring and motivational is great, there’s something to be said about being able to accept that life doesn’t always work out like you would hope, and having realistic expectations while working towards new and adjusted goals.
Actors are called artists for a reason; portraying the same character for close to 13 years is creatively frustrating. (After all, it’s why Sandra Oh left the show.) At 48, Pompeo knows she’s considered old in the industry, and having a second career as a movie actress is just not realistic. As well, Grey’s Anatomy keeps her plenty busy filming 24 episodes a year, and she can’t appear anywhere else anyway due to her contract containing a non-compete. While she’s shown interest in directing, and has directed multiple episodes of Grey’s, the time commitment is too much for her as she rather allot that time to her three children. So Pompeo has settled on producing; it makes enough money that it’s worth her time, and allows her a great creative outlet. As previously stated, she now has her own production company, Calamity Jane, and has already sold a series to Amazon.
Pompeo also commented on the ‘Time’s Up’ movement. She talked about meeting with fellow Hollywood actresses and being absolutely floored at the amount of abuse Oscar winning actresses have gone through. She’s also auditioned for Harvey Weinstein at one point in her career. Her agents claim they did not know of Weinstein’s reputation. “I went right up to his room,[] which I would never do…” Pompeo admitted that while she would’ve cracked a vase over his head if he tried anything, she did go into his room “batting [her] eyelashes.” And that’s another very uncomfortable thing about the industry to her. For a female, not only do you have to be a good actress, you also have to have the director or casting agent or whichever high ranking male in the room fall in love with you.
To USA Today, Pompeo has shared her story involving director James Toback, who was has at least 38 women accusing him of sexual assault. He was upset when she brought a male friend to a public event and asked if she would appear naked in his film the second she was alone.
Pompeo states that she now knows her path was the right one as she now has financial power and don’t need to be constantly on the lookout for predacious directors or chasing trophies. However, she also acknowledges that to be where she is, one does need to be more interested in the business side of Hollywood than the acting, and that’s not for everyone.
Pompeo has also recently called out Woody Allen on Twitter for his obsession with teenage girls and the lack of POC representation in his films.
“I should also say this: I don’t believe the only solution is more women in power, because power corrupts. It’s not necessarily a man or a woman thing. But there should be more of us women in power, and not just on Shonda Rhimes’ sets.”
Rhimes has given her more producing power on Grey’s and was integral to Pompeo securing her $20 million deal. Pompeo says that although she barely finished high school, she’s gotten a great education about the business with Rhimes. And her 8 year old daughter now has the same opportunity to be empowered by strong women on set. She ends off the interviewing stating that she hopes more of this kind of environment will exist soon.
And while this article is basically an overview of the Hollywood Insider article, I highly urge anybody reading to read the original interview as well. There are several points that I didn’t touch on and Pompeo’s candor is a breath of fresh air. I definitely have a newfound respect for Ellen Pompeo as a woman in power.
She is truly a badass, both onscreen and off.
Images from Women’s Agenda, ABC/Photofest, Richard Cartwright/ABC